Critical Thinking and 4D Chess

It’s time for some real talk about Trump. There seems to have been some inexplicable actions and in some cases inaction when it comes to the Trump administration and rather than challenge what is happening or not happening in the case of Jeff Sessions I’ve noticed a lot of people explaining things away with the convenient “4d chess” line that could and has been applied to literally anything that seems to go against the agenda that got Trump elected. Additionally if you point this out, you are attacked as a “shill”, and sometimes banned from The conversation without rebuttal which is all the evidence I need to know that people are thinking emotionally instead of logically.

I’m reminded of a time when I was younger and a friend of mine had this terrible girlfriend he was infatuated with. She was a cheater and it was obvious to everyone except him. But not because he had less information than we did, but for no other reason than he didn’t want to believe it. When she was caught, which happened several times, my friend would believe any flimsy excuse she gave him, and at times he would even make excuses for her. It was maddening to watch but it’s basic psychology. Cognitive dissonance. And like my friend if you are a human you are not immune to cognitive dissonance. I’m not immune you are not immune. And the thing about cognitive dissonance you literally have no idea you are experiencing it while you are experiencing it.

When faced with a reality too painful my friend began living in an alternative universe that was so crucial to his mental well being he he would violently defend the comfortable fiction he had created and he would get furious when myself and others would point out that she was cheating and even say that we were trying to break them up and that somehow we had some kind of evil plan to ruin his happiness. I’m guessing there’s a lot of people out there that had a friend like that or maybe were that friend, as I said it happens to all of us. If you think you’re immune to this it’s likely you’re currently a victim.

So why do I mention this when talking about Trump? What has trump done that reminds me of my friends cheating girlfriend.

Let’s think back to a year ago when Trump publicly fell for a obvious false flag in Syria and responded by launching missiles at an airfield. And rather than listen to what trump said and what trump did, lots of people trotted out the “4d chess” meme, or said its a reverse false flag (whatever the hell that was supposed to mean). Many people who questioned the wisdom of launching missiles into a foreign country in response to a false flag while publicly supporting the false narrative was called a shill. Many people refused to consider the simplest explanation that trump isn’t constantly playing mind games with everyone for no good reason and that maybe he just didn’t, dare I say, do the right thing.

When you look at this particular situation critically, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where pretending to fall for a false flag and then launching missiles into Syria would give trump or America any kind of advantage and as we begin to see a repeat of year ago these theories become even more flimsy. Let’s suppose for a moment that this was 4d chess. How is firing missiles into Syria so neocons and Never-Trumpers can lick their lips and fantasize about another pointless war better than trump calling out the false flag for what it is and being a leader instead of trying to rule by manipulation ? Because that’s what you’re saying essentially you’re saying that Trump chose to manipulate people with lies rather than tell the truth because it gave him some sort of advantage to lie. What advantage does it give trump or America for him to lie to the world and then wast millions of dollars in weapons and risk loss of life and escalate a situation that could lead to world war 3 in a country that poses absolutely no threat to us. Suppose for a moment you are right, Do you think that you are able to see through this as an obvious 4d chess move but the people in the deep state presumably the people Trump is trying to manipulate with his lie, some of whom have been running the country for decades are all that easily fooled? You, listening to some internet commentators and anonymous posters have given you some kind of unique insight into the mind of trump but the intelligence community, who by the way has the same access to anything you do and loads of intel you don’t are just so completely incompetent that they just have no idea what’s going on, but you do?

If you do believe that, I can assure you that you are under estimating your enemies and likely over estimating yourself. And I would suggest that it is at least possible that like my friend who invested so much in his relationship and wanted very badly for things to work out with his girlfriend that it’s at least possible that you’re creating an alternate reality to explain away truth you’d rather not face.

You need to ask yourself something right now: What could trump do that would cross the line? What scenario would defy absolutely the “4d chess explanation”? This is not a rhetorical question by the way I want you to really think about what headline you can see you tomorrow that would really make you think something has gone terribly wrong. Because I can tell you the cognitive dissonance is a powerful thing my friend would have explained away nearly anything and pretty much did and he was not a stupid person.

Dedication and loyalty are important things right now but not as important as critical thinking. In a world saturated with lies it’s often difficult to discern the truth but don’t fall into the trap of thinking everything is a lie that reality is inverted, or that everything is a complicated puzzle that must be solved. If you really trust Trump then you should take him at his word instead of selectively twisting it to fit what you want to hear.

Of course the possibility exist that there is some unseen plan or some “4d chess” but if you operate with that assumption you’re not thinking with your head, you’re thinking your heart.

Just like my friend, when you think with your heart only when it’s too late will you look back and say I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner.